Rupp, who trains with Farah in the Portland-based Nike Oregon Project, came in hard behind him to clinch silver and become the first U.S. man to medal in the 10,000 since 1964.

Salazar, who started the Oregon Project in 2001 to make U.S. distance running competitive at the world level, coaches them both.

The fans were in on this, too. The crowd was so loud over the last part of the race that it drowned out the public address announcer. When Farah began his drive to victory with about 475 meters to go, the noise level went into the red zone.

It didn't stop when Farah crossed the finish line and fell to his knees, face in his hands, then rolled onto his back, overcome with emotion. When he stood, Rupp embraced him.

After running a hard 9,600 meters, Farah covered the final 400 meters in 53.48 seconds. In fourth place at the bell, Rupp kicked into second place around the final turn and nailed down the silver with an all-out sprint on the home straight.

Officially, Farah won in 27 minutes, 30.42 seconds. Rupp crossed in 27:30.90. Tariku Bekele was third in 27:31.43.

Unofficially, it was bedlam.

"I was in shock, tears, the whole lot," Farah said.

He wasn't alone.

"Overwhelming," said Salazar, once a world record-holder in the marathon. "It was the greatest feeling, perhaps, I've ever had. It was better than anything I ever did in my own running career. Other than marrying my wife, and my kids' births, this was the best feeling I've ever had in my life."

What Salazar wasn't, was surprised. He told Farah and Rupp to stay near the front, cover any surges the race leaders tried, and remain in position until it was time to run for victory.

"The race plan for Mo and Galen was, we felt they could out-sprint anyone in the race," Salazar said. "We didn't care if it was a fast pace, a slow pace, whatever. They wouldn't be trying to win it until the last 400, maybe even the last 200 meters. A very simple plan."

Simple, and devastatingly effective.

Rupp outkicked everybody in the race -- and the field included world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele, who swept the 5,000 and 10,000 in the Beijing Olympics -- except Farah.

"I was just trying to hold my form," said Rupp, who starred at Central Catholic High School and the University of Oregon. "It was hard. I was expecting everybody to be right there, coming up. I was scared for the last 200 meters."

For no reason, as it turned out.

There were other Oregonians in the race. Dathan Ritzenhein, who trains with Farah and Rupp in the Oregon Project, was 13th. Matt Tegenkamp, a member of Oregon Track Club/Portland, was 19th. Chris Thompson, a Briton who trains with OTC/Eugene, was 25th.

Afterward, Tegenkamp paid tribute to Rupp, who for a long time has been wearing the tag as potentially the best U.S. distance runner since the fabled Steve Prefontaine. The talk and level of expectation rose this year.

"To deal with it from the Prefontaine (Classic), to the U.S. Championships, to now, was very impressive," Tegenkamp said.

And guess what? Prefontaine never won an Olympic medal.

"I've been dreaming about this for a long time," Rupp said. "Then it happens, and you don't really know what to expect. The way things happened, the way that it went, to be here with Mo, my training partner, and finish first and second, I feel real fortunate."

Rupp said he felt no sense of pressure from the Olympic build-up, the newspaper headlines, the television interviews or the message board chatter.

"I don't read any of that stuff," Rupp said. "I don't listen to what people say. I don't really care. I remember sitting there in high school, and thinking about 2012 and 2016. Those were the two Olympics that we thought we were going to have a chance to medal. We set the goal."

If Rupp kept the pressure at bay, Farah couldn't avoid it. He moved to London as an eight-year-old after his family left Somalia. In this race, a nation was pulling for him.

To prepare for the moment, he moved his family across eight time zones and settled them in Portland so that he could be coached by Salazar and train with Rupp.

But he had to run the race in London.

"Sometimes, you can't think about it," Farah said. "You just have to use the crowd."

There is no denying the fans were a factor, particularly when first Farah and then Rupp began driving for the finish.

And then and there, in a few deafening moments, Farah, Rupp and Salazar saw their Olympic dreams come true.